No One Is Innocent: A Jasmine Myers Mystery

By Gayle Tiller

Thirty-something Jasmine Myers is a divorced San Jose African-American private investigator who is battling her addiction to alcohol. Her biological clock is ticking and her ex-husband who is newly married wants her back.

Community leader Kristal Woods hires Jasmine to investigate the death of her firefighter husband. After two other firefighters die, Kristal is charged with all three murders.

A twisted path leads to the dark side of San Jose politics and life. In the end, Jasmine learns that no one is innocent.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gayle Tiller
• Release date: Aug 6, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463167199

Gayle Tiller

Gayle Tiller's latest fiction endeavor is "Death of the Eviction Man: An Erika Mudrose Mystery Novella." She is also the author of the suspense novel "24 Hour Lottery Ticket," the mystery novel "No One Is Innocent: A Jasmine Myers Mystery," and the novella "The Ghost and the Document Reviewer: A Mystery Novella." She's also written three short stories. Ms. Tiller is mixed with African-American and Ashkenazi Jewish and she grew up in California. She enjoys learning about her family’s diverse heritage through her hobby genealogy. She also likes oral storytelling, talk radio, and politics.

Book preview

No One Is Innocent: A Jasmine Myers Mystery

Gayle Tiller

Copyright © 2018 by Gayle Tiller

Smashwords Edition

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this novel may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, please email [e-mail].

Chapter One

It's two in the morning and I can't sleep. This evening I found out that Keith was having a baby with his new wife.

Keith and I were married for eight years and for the last three years of our marriage, we tried making a baby and couldn't.

It wasn't like there was anything wrong with either one of us. The doctor said Keith's sperm count was on the low side of normal but other than that, he was perfectly fine.

As for me, the doctor told me that it would take a little bit longer to get pregnant because I was a woman in my thirties.

Believe me, we tried. At one point, we were having sex almost every day. I want to say that we made love, but it really wasn't. It was very mechanical with no passion.

I can't remember how many times I would tell Keith it was time to have sex because I was ovulating. He would get up like he was some kind of machine and just do it. After about ten or fifteen minutes, he would sneeze just before he was ready to come and then he was done.

He always would say, Maybe we just made our little one and fall sleep. His sneezing and falling asleep afterward got on my nerves. I never could figure out why he sneezed. He might have been allergic to himself or something. It was just strange. As for the falling asleep, I guess a lot of men did that.

As for my own satisfaction, I never even pretended that I got anything out of it. I wasn't going to fake something I didn't feel. I know most women do, but I'm not one of them.

But Keith knew how to kiss and hug. He always made me feel special when he held me in his arms. I guess that is what I really miss.

I also miss the fact that as fine as Keith was, he was never caught up on his looks. He had G.Q. looks and yet he was so down to earth. He was 6'2" and had a body that had the right kind of muscles. Not your body builder type of muscles but the muscles of a basketball player.

His hair was thick and curly and he had the most luscious lips that I have ever seen on a man. I remember when I met him twelve years ago, staring at those nice thick juicy lips and thinking how much I wanted to kiss him.

But there was more to Keith than his face and body; he also cared about people. He was always helping people with their problems. He was a college professor at San Jose State during the day and at night and on the weekends, he was involved with a number of political organizations.

Keith was what most women would call a good man. So, when he asked me to marry him, I naturally said yes.

After a few months of marriage, I had to compete with Keith's other love, the community. When I say community, I don't mean the typical black community. In San Jose, we don't have a black part of town. Instead, we are spread out all over from Berryessa to Evergreen to the Eastside. So, you never know where you're going to run into black folks.

There are 50,000 of us in San Jose. That may seem like a lot of folks, but it really isn't. San Jose has close to a million people. Latinos are the biggest minority followed by Asians.

San Jose is a wannabe city. It's not like Oakland or San Francisco which are real cities. San Jose is a giant suburb that just keeps on growing.

Of course, the politics is like anywhere else. There is an African-American power structure; and Keith was a part of this leadership. Not that the leadership was all that powerful. There only had been a handful of African-American city council members in the history of San Jose.

Keith had political aspirations, but he didn't want to be a politician. No, instead he was into attending all these community meetings. He constantly would have me waiting up for him to come home from a meeting.

Most of the time I would be home by myself until ten or eleven at night before Keith would walk in. Now, that's fine when I'm working long hours in my business as a private investigator, but when I haven't had a major case in a while, I expect to spend time with my husband.

And with Keith, it seemed like the only times when I would see him was in the morning when he got ready for work and when he came home to go to sleep. We used to argue about this all the time.

He would tell me that if I wanted to see him more that I needed to get involved with the organizations he spent time with.

Politics has never been my thing. I vote and I read the paper. But I never wanted to be a community activist. Despite our differences, Keith and I managed to be together for five years without any major incidents. I would go to the important events with him and be his dedicated wife.

To everyone on the outside, we were the perfect couple. But I got tired of playing that charade. I finally got the courage to tell Keith that I wanted a man who would give me attention when I needed it and would spend time with me when I wanted it.

That's when Keith came up with the idea that it was time for us to have a baby. We were both in our thirties. We had a house. Our finances were good. So naturally, it was time to start a family.

That was fine with me. We tried and we tried over and over for the next three years and as you know, the baby never happened.

I finally offered Keith the proposition of adopting a baby. After all, there were plenty of African-American babies in foster homes.

Keith refused to consider this. He had been adopted and he felt that his birth mother had abandoned him. He never forgave her. He even tried to find her, but he was unsuccessful. When I offered my help, he wasn't interested.

He blamed me for failing to get pregnant and called me infertile.

I knew that this was not the case. Back in college, I dated Eric who is the only other man that I have been with. Well, that's not true. There have been a few others, but they're not worth discussing.

Eric had the prettiest brown eyes that I have ever seen and had a nice cleft chin. He was absolutely gorgeous.

At the time, Eric was a psychology student at San Jose State. When I first met Eric, I knew that we would be together.

After we were friends for a year, we started dating. At the age of 21, I lost my virginity to Eric and I'm glad that Eric was the one.

Let's just say, without going into details, Eric definitely knew how to satisfy a woman.

You know how you can get addicted to something, because it feels so good. After a few weeks of being with Eric, I just couldn't get enough of him.

But like any other addiction, it had drawbacks. Eric was always broke; he always needed money for something: his rent, food or books.

During our year and half relationship, I must have given him over five grand. He then got an eviction notice and asked me for money. I gave him the phone number to Legal Aid, told him I was tired of his poor ass living off me and left him.

A month later, I found out I was pregnant. I wasn't ready to become a mother. On top of this, I was raised to believe that you shouldn't have a child if you are not married. There was no point in telling Eric, because he definitely was not husband material- let alone father material. So I terminated my pregnancy.

I never told Keith, because I knew his feelings on abortion. He felt that abortion was murder and that for a black woman to have abortion was genocide. When Keith called me infertile, I just ignored his comments and said nothing.

My marriage got to the point where I just couldn't stand being with Keith. Keith was never home. The sex was terrible. I knew that no matter how much we tried, the baby would never happen. The bottom line was that we had no chemistry and we just weren't compatible.

After eight years of marriage, I told Keith I was leaving him. When he asked me if there was another man, I wanted to laugh.

Not once did I ever consider having an affair. No, I was leaving Keith for my future, for my sense of well-being. It had nothing to do with anyone else.

My break up with Keith ended two years ago. Since the divorce, I have only gone out on a few dates. The thing that I don't like about dating is that after a couple of dates, a man wants to bed you down.

I can't deal with that. I'm old-fashioned. I like romance. Holding hands. Taking long walks. Gazing into each other's eyes.

Single men nowadays just don't understand courtship and most don't even want to learn what it means to be a gentleman.

It seems like all of the good men are with someone else. The reality is that there is a shortage of our men. And a lot of women will go out with a man who belongs to someone else, just to say that they have a man. I am not into sharing someone else's husband or boyfriend. To me, half of a man is the same as having no man at all. And quite frankly, I'd rather be myself than be in that type of bullshit relationship.

Some say I'm stuck up and I have no right be. After all, I'm no beauty queen. I am 5'9" and I have no breasts or ass. I'm just straight up and down.

God knows how many exercises I have tried to build up my breasts and my legs. I even tried those weight-gaining products but instead of gaining of weight, I just got sick to my stomach.

But at the age of 37, I have finally learned to appreciate my body. If a man doesn't like me just because of my body, it's not my problem. It's his problem. Like my friend Sheila always says, If a man wants more than a mouthful, he is just plain greedy.

Right now, I like being alone. As for my ex-husband, he just could not cope with being single. Keith found a woman who was a virgin at the age of 30.

And yes, there are still women who believe in saving themselves for marriage. Now, Loretta is so goddamn pure, it's sickening. Drinking and cussing are foreign to her. I have never heard her say a bad thing about anybody. She's a kindergarten teacher and good at her job.

Loretta is on the plump side and very religious. She goes to Bible study Tuesday and Thursday nights and she used to be a Sunday school teacher.

I'm glad that Keith has Loretta, because he needs someone to take care of him.

But a part of me hurts, because he and Loretta were able to make a baby.

Yes, I know in the end even with a baby, we probably still would have divorced. But if we had created a child, I would have gotten something out of our marriage.

Instead, I have nothing. All I did was waste eight years of my life with him. Okay, I didn't waste it. It just feels like I didn't really accomplish anything.

So I'm a little jealous of Loretta, but I'll get over it.

I'll send them a card congratulating them. No, I can't do that because I heard through the grapevine that Loretta doesn't want him to talk to me. For some reason, she thinks that I am the bad woman and that I'll try to steal him from her.

No, the reality is that Loretta can keep him and I don't want him back.

It's too bad Keith and I can't be at least friends, but you know how new wives are.

Oh well. Here's to Keith and Loretta's future and to their child's future. May their lives be filled with happiness.

As for me, I know that my future will be fine. Since breaking up with Keith, I have doubled the number of clients and business is booming.

Yes, I am okay. Yes, I made the right choice in leaving Keith. Look at the time, it's already three in the morning. Let me try to get some sleep.

* * *

When I arrived at my office at 7:00 in the morning, there was an African-American woman in her mid-thirties already waiting for me at the door. She had long thick black hair. She was about 5'8" with the kind of body that women would die for. She had full breasts, a waist that could not have been bigger than 27 inches, and a well-rounded ass. She tried to hide her body in a conservatively cut navy blue dress, but it was useless.

She was the kind of woman that most women took an instant dislike to, because she was gorgeous and she knew it.

But despite her looks, there was something different about her. I didn't know what it was, but I somehow felt connected to her.

She looked me over cautiously and said, You're Jasmine Myers, right?

I nodded and grumbled, I see people by appointments only. Why don't I get my appointment book and schedule an appointment with you later this week.?

It can't wait. It's an emergency. My husband was killed three days ago and I need to find out who killed him as soon as possible.

I said, I'm sorry about your husband. But I like I said before, I don't see people without appointments.

Don't you know who I am?

Who the hell does she think she is? The woman is already displaying an attitude. Whoever she is, she sure isn't important enough to be hanging outside my door this early in the morning.

She looked at me and said, I am Kristal Woods- recipient of the Citizens’ of the Year Award in San Jose, Chairwoman of the Commission on Status of Women for the State of California, and teacher of the year for the school district.

My memory suddenly clicked, I had seen her at a couple functions in the past that Keith and I had attended. She also had been on the news a few times.

Kristal said, Look Jasmine, I heard that you are the best in the business. And if there's anyone who can track down the killer of my husband, it's you.

Who gave you these great reviews about me?

Keith Rawlings.

Oh. How do you know him?

He and I have worked on some community projects together.

Hell, at least Keith still refers business to me.

Jasmine, are you going to let me in? I really want to talk now.

For a woman who is into helping people, I'll give her a few minutes. Okay, Kristal, you can come in. But just don't let it get back to anyone in the community.

She smiled and said, You can count on me to keep a secret.

I opened the door to my office. Kristal winced. The off-white walls were barren and the carpet was a dingy brown with a couple of stains. The right side of my office was cluttered with a several piles of cases spread out on a couple of folding tables. My off-black metal bookcase held my awards and certificates.

In the middle sat my glass-top desk that was smeared with a few handprints. On top of my desk was my laptop, phone and a few files.

I took a seat behind my desk and motioned Kristal to sit down.

Kristal sat down and pulled out a picture. "This is my husband Ralph. He was a captain in the San Jose Fire Department and the President of the Black Firefighters. He was lobbying the department for the selection of an African-American fire chief, because as you know our last chief died a few months ago of a heart attack.

The selection was down to two candidates- Richard Carpenter- a brother and Melvin Grady- a white man. The word on the inside was that Richard had the job. His qualifications were a lot better than Grady's. He had a master's degree, served in the department for twenty-five years, and had an excellent record. Grady had only an AA degree and served the department for fifteen years and had an average record.

A few weeks ago, the City Manager was scheduled to announce her selection for the new chief. Out of the blue, Richard announced that he was leaving the department, because he had received an offer from Oakland to be its new chief. Grady was selected by default. Well, Ralph suspected foul play and requested an investigation into Richard's sudden departure. Now, my husband is dead."

I looked at her and said, What did the police say about your husband's death?

"They said it was a case of accidental poisoning. Ralph died from an allergic reaction to penicillin. They said the doctor had mistakenly prescribed penicillin to him for a throat infection that he had for the last couple of weeks.

Ralph never would have taken penicillin under any circumstance. A few years ago, he almost died from an allergic reaction. As a result, he always wore his bracelet saying he was allergic to penicillin."

I looked at the picture. Ralph was a handsome man. He was tall, had a nice lean hard body, light eyes, and wavy hair. He and Kristal made a striking couple.

I paused and said, Did he have the bracelet on when he died?

Yes.

I'm not a lawyer, but I think you have a great case for medical malpractice. As for murder, I just don't see it. I think your husband may have forgotten to tell the doctor he was allergic to penicillin. It happens.

Kristal stared at me in disbelief and angrily said, How can you say something like that?

I understand the loss of your husband hurts a lot. But for someone to kill your husband over the investigation of the departure of a candidate for fire chief, it just doesn't make sense.

Tears began to form in Kristal's eyes. She cried, There's absolutely no way that my husband would have voluntarily taken penicillin. He knew penicillin would kill him.

She paused, looked at me directly in the eyes and said, And my husband definitely had a reason to be careful and not just for his life. A few weeks ago, I learned that I was pregnant with our first child and Ralph was so happy. There's just no way he would not have told the doctor about being allergic.

What is this month? National Pregnancy Month for Women over 35? The last thing I needed to hear was this. Forget about my biological clock ticking, it was at the point where it could explode any minute.

She had to be crazy to think that someone tried to off her husband. But hell, if she has the money to hire me, I'll take the case.

I said, I'll do some checking for you, but I won't promise you anything. My fee is $400 per day plus expenses with a $2,500 retainer.

Kristal searched her purse for her checkbook, quickly wrote a check for $2,500 like it was nothing and shoved it at me.

I looked at Kristal and said, I'll need to come by your house and just look around. How about two o’clock this afternoon?

Kristal smiled and said, Sure, I'll be there. My address is on the check.

Kristal, I have an eight o’clock appointment this morning. If you don't mind, we need to end our meeting.

Sure.

I got up, walked her to the door and shook her hand.

I had just made an easy $2,500. I would do some checking. But the odds that Ralph was murdered had to be equal to the odds of winning the lottery.

Chapter Two

I called my father from my office. My father worked in